(Riverside, CA) The Mt. SAC men's and women's track and field teams started defense of their 2018 state titles by participating in the four-team Riverside Invitational on Friday. Both teams finished in third place behind Riverside and Cerritos, respectively.
Scoring 50 points collectively, the women's team had first-place finishes by 2018 state runner-up Senna Forkner in the javelin (36.52 meters), Mayara De Souza in the pole vault (3.35 meters), Kayla Rodriguez in the 600m (1:41.82), and Terra Valadez in the 60m hurdles (9.27).
Amy Campos placed second in the pole vault at 3.2 meters.
Several Mounties finished in third place in their respective events, including Alyssa Armendariz in the 1-mile run (5:52.40), Yesenia Flores in the 2-mile run (12:17.21), and Samantha Mabee in the hammer throw (31.22 meters). Tiffany Juhasz and Kierstyn Wilbourn tied with Riverside's Thy Pham for third in the pole vault at 2.90 meters. In the 4x400, the team of Kayla Rodriguez, Jasmine Garcia, Maia Harvey, and Terra Valadez finished in third with a time of 4:22.54.
On the men's side, the Mounties tallied 43.8333 points with first-place finishes by 2018 5,000m and 10,000m state champion Salvador Capetillo in the 2-mile run (9:32.81) and Nathaniel Carranza, who tied with Cerritos' Brian Lantan in the pole vault at 4.25 meters.
Mountie second-place finishes included Jose Melchor in the 2-mile run (9:41.27), Ryan Lopez and Calvin Oury (4.1 meters) in the pole vault, 2018 state runner-up Justin Spivey in the javelin (49.12 meters), and the 4x400 relay team of Aaron Mahlow, Robert Taft, Phillip Ulloa, and Nathan Gordon (3:32.74).
Mahlow also captured third place in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.59 seconds, while teammate Jarrod Sanchez finished third in the triple jump with a distance of 12.84 meters.
Both teams return to action in the Cerritos Opener and Multi event on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 21-22 in Norwalk.
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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.